***Warning, may contain spoilers.***

There is no mystery to happiness.

Such are the first words encountered as I opened the book ‘The Interpretation of Murder’ by Jed Rubenfeld. “What would happiness have in common with murder?”, I wondered, as I read these first few lines, not yet knowing that they would have led me to a different world and a different time. True enough, Jed Rubenfeld’s novel leads us to the deep heart of Manhattan and at the same time, in the dark mind of, us, humans…

1909, Sigmund Freud is said to have come to New York, his one and only visit to the United States, along with his disciples to deliver a series of lectures on psychoanalysis at Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts. This ‘event’ had marked Freud’s first public recognition of his work, representing the first step to his success in the world of psychoanalysis. However, Freud has always spoken of his short stay in the US as a terrible memory, making his biographers wonder what could have happened there to trigger such reaction from him. He called Americans ‘savages’ and America, the country which brings out the worst of people. Many have sought to know the truth about what happened during his stay. Jed Rubenfeld gives his version as he “weaves this real-life event into an accomplished thriller.” (Independent) Keep reading…

Tags: Book, Crime, Historical, Mystery, Review